'Gundam Unicorn RE:0096' Is Coming To Toonami Early Next Year

In a welcome move, Toonami will be bringing the anime TV series Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 Westward early next year.

Gundam Unicorn started out as a series of novels written by Harutoshi Fukui. Set after the events of Char’s Counterattack it dealt with how the Universal Century changed towards the events in Gundam F91 over thirty years later.

With character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and mechanical design by Hajime Katoki, the novels ticked all the right Gundam boxes. It was also hugely popular.

So popular in fact that the novels spawned a 7 episode OVA series, which reignited interest in the classic Universal Century timeline yet again.

Now, the problem with the OVA series was that it compressed the events of 10 novels into 7 episodes. That obviously meant it missed out big chunks of the narrative and skipped over a lot of exposition.

This is where Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 comes in.

Spread over 22 episodes it explores more of what the OVA could not and was able to help explain some of the slightly weirder Newtype elements the OVA glossed over.

The fact this series is coming Westward and then on Toonami is both great news and somewhat cause for concern.

In Japan, Gundam Unicorn sits in a very clear place on a very well known timeline. Unicorn relies upon a great deal of prior knowledge of Universal Century related Gundam and that is something that could be an issue for first time viewers.

Unlike series such as Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Gundam Unicorn is not really a standalone story and is part of a much larger and more complex narrative tapestry.

That said, I am still really happy Toonami has picked up Gundam Unicorn RE:0096. It’s a good series and to be honest, my first real exposure to Gundam was the film Char’s Counterattack, which is definitely off the narrative deep end and that worked for me.

Anyway, Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 airs on Toonami in early January of next year.

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